SE Swamp Ash Special PU / wiring mods

[greyhatninja]

I just placed an order for the SE SAS through my local dealer. I would like to mod it though so I can also at least have the neck as a single coil by itself. Would love some additional pickup combo options as well. Has anyone modded there’s or thinking about it? Also curious if putting in different humbuckers vs. the overseas made ones might be a good idea.

 

[JasonE]

Look at the Freeway switch. You can do all sorts of things with that switch. I would wait until you get the guitar and play it for about a month then decide if you want to change the pickups. I don't have the SE SAS. Mine is an older core SAS. From what I have been seeing from posts on various forums, people like the pickups that come in them stock.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Look at the Freeway switch. You can do all sorts of things with that switch. I would wait until you get the guitar and play it for about a month then decide if you want to change the pickups. I don't have the SE SAS. Mine is an older core SAS. From what I have been seeing from posts on various forums, people like the pickups that come in them stock.

The pickups in my SE SAS are wonderful. I though of the wiring thing too. The stock config works great. If I got another SE SAS I may try the mod. It doesn't make sense for me to experiment on a guitar I like.

 

[thewesdavis]

Look at the Freeway switch. You can do all sorts of things with that switch. I would wait until you get the guitar and play it for about a month then decide if you want to change the pickups. I don't have the SE SAS. Mine is an older core SAS. From what I have been seeing from posts on various forums, people like the pickups that come in them stock.

Just curious, do you like the humbuckers in your core SAS? I played one YEARS ago and liked the sound, but my rig has evolved a ton since then and I’ve also been leaning much more heavily on my Dragon 1 and HFS/VB PRSs (back in the day my Singlecuts had Duncan’s and 7s respectively)

 

[JasonE]

Just curious, do you like the humbuckers in your core SAS? I played one YEARS ago and liked the sound, but my rig has evolved a ton since then and I’ve also been leaning much more heavily on my Dragon 1 and HFS/VB PRSs (back in the day my Singlecuts had Duncan’s and 7s respectively)

I honestly can't remember what it sounded like with the stock pickups in it. I changed them to a set of Fralin Unbuckers to try to get stronger in between tones like a strat. It worked but then I was able to get my hands on a set of 57/08s that came out of a special run guitar back in around 2008 or 2009 and put them in it. They have been in there ever since. I have the original pickups and have thought a few times about putting the sock pickups back in to see what it sounded like when I first got it. I don't remember disliking them. I was just trying to get it to do something more specific to what I wanted at that time. I really like the 57/08 pickups. I had them in one other PRS at that time and when I was able to get that set, I jumped. If I remember correctly the stock SAS pickups are a tweaked version of the McCarty pickups that they put in them before the actual SAS pickups. They measure in the range of the McCarty and early 57/08 pickups.

 

[thewesdavis]

I honestly can't remember what it sounded like with the stock pickups in it. I changed them to a set of Fralin Unbuckers to try to get stronger in between tones like a strat. It worked but then I was able to get my hands on a set of 57/08s that came out of a special run guitar back in around 2008 or 2009 and put them in it. They have been in there ever since. I have the original pickups and have thought a few times about putting the sock pickups back in to see what it sounded like when I first got it. I don't remember disliking them. I was just trying to get it to do something more specific to what I wanted at that time. I really like the 57/08 pickups. I had them in one other PRS at that time and when I was able to get that set, I jumped. If I remember correctly the stock SAS pickups are a tweaked version of the McCarty pickups that they put in them before the actual SAS pickups. They measure in the range of the McCarty and early 57/08 pickups.

I typically like their pickups from that era (wasn’t as wild about the Dragon 2 bridge pup though) so I’m going in with high hopes, but have also heard some negative feedback about the McCartys

 

[JasonE]

I typically like their pickups from that era (wasn’t as wild about the Dragon 2 bridge pup though) so I’m going in with high hopes, but have also heard some negative feedback about the McCartys

I am not a fan of the Dragon II pickups. That is why I also put 57/08s in my CU22. That guitar is much more usable to me than it was with the Dragon IIs in it. If my SAS needed pickups, I would put a new set of 57/08s in it. They really sound good in the guitar. I also added the resistors to it like they use in the current wiring to keep the split tones higher volume. If I had known about that mod when I bought the guitar, I would never have gone down the road of changing the pickups. That is one reason I was thinking about putting the stock pickups back in it, with the resistors in it. I am really curious if it would be a big difference in sound between what I have in it now and the stock pickups.

 

[SinSir]

Freeway and a set of 5708 is tonal heaven in a core SAS. There's other options, but thats the keep it simple stupid for a Swamp Ash Swiss Army of a Guitar.

 

[opnoob]

Best sounding and playing SE in my experience! The satin maple neck is a beaut. I'm sure you'll love it and congrats.